Certain embodiments of the present invention relate to telsplice connectors and more particularly to telsplice connectors joined together using ultrasonic welding to form a telsplice stick.
Plug-in circuit boards with electronic components thereon are widely used in the telecommunication and computer industries, among other industries. Generally, high speed data signals are conveyed to and from the circuit boards at a desired data rate using electrical cabling, wiring, connections or any other connection pathway (generally designated herein as “cable or cabling”).
Joining individual cables together (commonly known as “splicing”) is well known in the art. It is known to join, screw, clamp, compress or crimp the connectors onto the cable ends to join the cables. The cables are manually inserted onto the connecter and then the connector is screwed or crimped onto the cables generally using a tool such as a pair of pliers. Crimping tools are currently available that enable individual telsplice connectors to be individually inserted into the crimping tool before the cables are inserted into the telsplice connector. The crimping tool is manipulated so that telsplice connector is crimped onto the cables. It should be appreciated that this procedure is wasteful, costly and time intensive.
Different ideas have been employed to improve the splicing process. One idea includes using a semi-automatic crimping tool with a cartridge. Individual telsplice connectors are loaded into the cartridge and the cartridge is fed into the semi-automatic crimping tool. It should be appreciated that this procedure is again time intensive, requiring time to load the individual telsplice connectors into the cartridge. Further, this idea requires an additional cost to purchase the cartridge. Alternatively, the cartridges could be sold already loaded with telsplice connectors. It should be appreciated that, if the cartridge is removed before a whole sleeve of telsplice connectors are used, connectors may be lost.
Another approach includes loading telsplice connectors onto a tape, wherein the tape and connectors are inserted into the crimping tool. Loading individual connectors onto a tape is costly and time intensive. Furthermore, the tape may jam the crimping tool, again affecting work time and possibly damaging the machine.
It is desirable to provide a method for forming connectors that are removably connected. It is also desirable to provide connectors that are joined in a removable or breakable manner.
It is an object of at least one embodiment of the present invention to meet the foregoing needs and other objectives, which will become apparent from the detailed description, drawings and claims presented hereafter.